Eoin Colfer
Talk about a disappointing book. Kids love this novel–it’s in the official summer reading section of the library (a place only valued literature is placed). All this time I’ve been recommending it to children to read over the summer when I should be warning them to stay away.
The book starts off with a lot of promise and potential, though it randomly would take a pseudo-C. S. Lewis kind of narration. Even though the main character was a total brat, I was sure he would change his ways by the end of the novel, giving me reason to continue reading the next in the series.
Sadly, he does not redeem himself, and in order to get to the boring end, one has to read through tons of boring Fowl family history, awkward encounters with the People and a lengthy chapter about dwarf farts and pooping habits. At first it was amusing (because I’m really seven), but a whole chapter? Booooring. Boris, seeming to be the only character with any kind of depth, held the entire novel together. Perhaps if the novel has been told from his perspective, then I would have liked the book a bit more. As is, this novel was filled with obnoxious characters, a stupid plot, and the most ridiculous and disappointing of endings.
Unless you’re looking to waste your time on a character not worthy of three words, let alone almost three hundred pages–stay far far away.